Sierra Nevada, Spain

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6 Day Weather Forecast for 2701 m altitude, issued (local time): 6 pm 16 May 2008

	Days 0-3 Sierra Nevada Weather Summary: A dusting of new snow. Freeze-thaw conditions (max 4°C on Fri afternoon, min -3°C on Sat night). Winds increasing (light winds from the W on Sat night, fresh winds from the WNW by Sun night).									Days 4-6 Sierra Nevada Weather Summary: Light rain (total 2.0mm), mostly falling on Tue afternoon . Freeze-thaw conditions (max 9°C on Thu morning, min -1°C on Mon night). Wind will be generally light.
	Fri 16 after- noon	Fri 16 night	Sat 17 morn- ing	Sat 17 after- noon	Sat 17 night	Sun 18 morn- ing	Sun 18 after- noon	Sun 18 night	Mon 19 morn- ing	Mon 19 after- noon	Mon 19 night	Tue 20 morn- ing	Tue 20 after- noon	Tue 20 night	Wed 21 morn- ing	Wed 21 after- noon	Wed 21 night	Thu 22 morn- ing
Wind (km/h)
Summary	snow shwrs	some clouds	clear	light snow	snow shwrs	clear	cloudy	snow shwrs	clear	clear	some clouds	cloudy	light rain	cloudy	clear	some clouds	some clouds	cloudy
Snow cm	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rain mm	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-
Max °C	4	0	3	3	0	2	1	-1	3	3	1	5	3	2	8	8	3	9
Min °C	2	-1	3	1	-3	1	0	-2	1	3	-1	4	2	1	6	7	1	7
WChill °C	-3	-5	0	-3	-7	-3	-6	-10	-5	-2	-7	-1	-3	-4	3	5	-3	5
Freezing level (m)	2950	2800	2700	2850	2750	2550	2650	2500	2550	2900	3150	3000	3100	3100	3400	3600	3600	3500
Sunrise	-	-	6:03	-	-	6:01	-	-	6:01	-	-	6:01	-	-	6:00	-	-	5:58
Sunset	20:15	-	-	20:15	-	-	20:16	-	-	20:17	-	-	20:19	-	-	20:19	-	-

The above table gives the weather forecast for Sierra Nevada at the specific elevation of 2701m. Our sophisticated weather models allow us to provide snow forecasts for the top, middle and bottom stations of Sierra Nevada. To access the weather forecasts for the other elevations, use the tab navigation above the table. For a wider view of the weather, check out the Weather Map of Spain.

NOTE ABOUT FREEZING LEVELS AND TEMPERATURES
The freezing level that we forecast Sierra Nevada is the  free air freezing level. (More specifically, it is the uppermost free air freezing level). This means that all of the air above this elevation is below freezing however it does not necessarily imply that all of the air below it is above freezing.  We provide this because it best describes the level where falling snow first starts to turn to rain. On average, snowflakes only stay frozen for about 100 metres (300 feet) below the free air freezing level. That's because air temperatures usually increase steadily as you descend - but not always.  For example, a temperature inversion describes a pool of cold air near the ground with a layer of warmer air above it. This is a common occurrence in winter when the wind is light. Such pools of dense cold air can vary from a few metres to several kilometres deep and can persist from hours to several weeks. In an inversion, it can be simultaneously below freezing in a mountain valley, and also at a nearby summit, yet above freezing at some elevation in between. Most visitors to the Alps are very familiar with this. Such conditions can allow snow to fall much more than the usual 100 metres below the top freezing level, even reaching the valley, just as long as snow did not pass through enough warm air to melt. Otherwise, freezing rain or re-frozen soft hail (there is even a German word for it - graupel) reaches the valley instead. Our forecasts allow for these possibilities which is why you may see forecasts of snowfall and frost at elevations far below the free-air freezing level, or valley temperatures that are lower than summit temperatures. You may even see forecasts of rain to fall even though it is just below freezing at the surface - that happens if our model predicts that there is a deep warm layer just above. None of these are as contradictory as they may seem at first.

All of our temperature forecasts for Sierra Nevada are for the ground, not the air. These can be very different to free-air temperatures, especially at night. This can lead to what looks like a contradiction. Because the ground is such a good radiator of heat (especially on clear nights when there is a snow cover and the wind is light) surface temperatures often fall more than far below the free air temperatures - sometimes by more than 10 degrees. On such occasions, the snowpack freezes at elevations that are far below the free air freezing level. For example, in the European Alps, snow tends to freeze in valleys on still clear and still nights  even if the free air freezing level is above 3000m simply because snow is so efficient radiating its heat away. In reality there are two freezing levels; one just above the snow surface and another at 3000m with a layer of warmer temperatures in between where the snow may not freeze at all. In summary, the reason we provide surface temperatures isbecause these determine the condition of the snowpack.

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